Inaugurating our new “Events” category, a Singles Wine Tasting will take place at the Young Israel of Brookline (62 Green St.) on Sunday, June 6th at 6pm. Cost is $20/person. For more information, call Gabe at the YIB office, 617-734-0276.
(If you know of any other kosher-related events, please contact submit@kosherblog.net.)
I have not been a big consumer of dessert wines, and had not tried a Port previously, but was alerted before Pesach that the Dalton Admon Port was worth trying. We had it over Pesach, with a fairly large group, some of whom appreciated good wine, others who were more “blue bottle” and equivalent drinkers. We all really enjoyed the Port. I’d be interested in hearing from other members whether they have tried it and if they liked it. At the Teaneck Wine Celler, it was running about $12 on pre-pesach sale, probably about $15-$17 now.
Avi
The great wine debate has spilled over to Strat’s Place, with some interesting perspectives and more commentary by industry heavy-hitters Welner and Winchell.
Where do I start? We had so many new wines over the first two days of Passover that it was difficult to keep track of them all, but of particular note were two reds from California and a pinotage from South Africa.
Gan Eden’s 2000 Syrah was surprising: despite its whopping 16% alcohol by volume, this non-mevushal bottle from the always-reliable Gan Eden was more subtle than the Australian Shiraz that I’m used to. I found some fruitiness, a peppery finish, and a heck of a surprise when I tried to stand up (I mean c’mon, 16%ABV?!). There wasn’t even a hint of the syrupy or alcoholic flavors that most of these bruisers exhibit, and if I hadn’t re-read the label I would have thought that it was something in the boiled flaken that kept the room spinning.
Weinstock Cellar’s Lodi 2000 Zinfandel (mevushal) was a cruiserwieght in comparison (13.5%ABV) although I found it too hard-charging and tart for my tastes, but its fruit flavors and low level of tanins were appealling to many of our guests who don?t generally go for dry reds. (This red zin seems to be so new to the market that I couldn?t find a picture of the label or any other reference to it on the Royal Wine Corporation?s
web site).
Even more appealing to those who usually like Moscato with their dinner was the Backsberg 2003 Pinotage. This South African (mevushal) red was soft and almost sweet, with a hint of vanilla. Again not my cup of tea, but a crowd-pleaser with our crowd of dry wine novitiates.
I hope you all had pleasant and meaningful and gastronomically interesting Sederim. I did and in the course of them had two noteworthy wines, both of which were purchased at Queen Anne Wine in Teaneck.
During the Shulchan Oreich portions of our Sederim we opened several good wines, but it is the two reds (one each night) that I will comment on. For the first seder, we had a 2002 Beckett’s Flat Cabernet-Shiraz (50%/50%) from the Margaret River region of Western Australia. As a quick side note, I believe that not all Beckett’s Flat wine has hashcagacha, so please be prudent, but all of their kosher wine is K-for-P and mevushal. This was a very pleasant, fruity and effectively semi-dry wine. It had a very full flavor, but was not heavy or thick. It had hints of cherry and other sweet berries that developed more as the wine opened up. The two grapes that constitute this wine marry very well and you can sense the interplay between them if you are familiar with both Cabernet and Shiraz. For those who find Shiraz to be a little too rough around the edges for many settings, this blend does a marvelous job of settling the Shiraz and kicking up the Cabernet. Beckett’s Flat wines are readily available and usually fall in the $15-$20 range.
Our second Seder dinner red was a 2000 Galil Mountain Yiron (Galilee), which is a 60% Cabernet-40% Merlot blend (non-mevushal). I am not particularly familiar with the Galil Mountain Winery, but I look forward to learning more. The 2000 seems to be the first bottling as the winery was formed then as “a joint venture of Golan Heights Winery and Kibbutz Yiron…. The winery is an enterprise that combines the unique features of the Upper Galilee mountains with the expertise of the Golan Heights Winery in producing top quality wines.” As the constituent grapes would suggest, the Yiron was a notably fuller than the Cab-Shiraz blend and had a noticeably sharper taste from expected greater level of tannin. Again, I felt that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts and that the interplay between the Cabernet and the Merlot brought out the best in both grapes. This is certainly a dry wine on the greater spectrum, but has a soft feel and a very smooth finish. Like the Cab-Shiraz, this had cherry notes, but the other hints of fruit suggested darker berries, and perhaps plums. And the oak from the wine’s prebottling aging comes through as well.. The bottle notes that this wine should develop nicely if well-shelved for 5-7 years and I could definitely see the potential for greater development (though this was a new purchase for us, it did already have 3.5-4 years under its belt). Like the Beckett’s Flat, the Galil Mountain Yiron runs just under $20 ($17.99 at Queen Anne Wine), but their single grape bottlings are in the $12-$15 range.
KosherBlog reader Heather asks what hard liquors are available for Passover. All acceptable alcohols are from the non-grain category (no whiskey!). Here’s a list of the Pesach spirits I could find:
* Arack (Carmel)
* Brandies (Carmel, Givon, Slivovitz, Rodrigues)
* Cognac (R&B Lanxner, Montaigne)
* Gin (Seagram)
* Grappa (Carmel)
* Liqueurs (Bartenura amaretto, hazelnut, etrog, lemon, apricot, lime, mandarin, peach; Sabra chocolate-orange)
* Vodka (Kedem, Carmel, Seagram)
* Vermouth (Kedem)
For more detail, the Orthodox Union’s list of K-F-P liquors is available in the T-Z section of their annual Passover guide, under “Wines & Liquors”.
KosherWine.com and QueenAnneWine.com both offer several of these products. KosherWine.com indicates on every product they sell whether it is Kosher for Passover. (It would be great if either of them could offer searches based solely on Pesach Kashrut!)
This past Friday, the Wall Street Journal published its annual pre-Passover kosher wine column and recomendations. A paid subscription is required to see the electronic edition of that article, so for those of you who missed it I will try to add their list of recomendations later. What was most interesting was the contrast between that column and the NY Times column discussed by NonMevushalMarc earlier. While the Times describes kosher wines being mostly substandard, the Journal seems to feel otherwise, saying “people who don’t keep kosher should not avoid the kosher aisle” and that they “include kosher wines in [their] regular blind tastings, and some have been among [their] favorites.”
Newsweek also piped up this year, with a short piece containing ratings lifted from the Wine Spectator
With Pesach looming, the mainstream metropolitan press has been spinning out their annual reviews (sparse though they may be) of kosher wines. The NY Times article ran today and is available online (free registration required).
Of the wines they review, I have recently had the Tierra Salvaje Tempranillo from Spain (Yecla) (not Mevushal). If you’re looking for something a little different than the usual California or Israeli wines that grace most kosher tables, this is a great pick. It is highly affordable (usually $9-$12) and is very drinkable. It has distinct cherry notes and complements everything from chicken to heavier roasts or other red meat well.
I have been very impressed with the entire Tierra Salvaje line, which includes wines from Spain (a Rioja in addition to the Tempranillo), Chile, and Argentina. They feature both reds and whites — all affordable and all have been enjoyable.
This past Sunday?s New York Times Wine Under $20 column (free subscription required) mentions the Bartenura Moscato D’Asti as a ?Treat for the Seder.? My first objection is that tradition calls for red wine at the Seder; second, Passover is probably an appropriate time to splurge on something a bit more expensive; and third, you can do a lot better for under $20 (fourth, if the Times wrote about it, you know that it is so over). For a semi-dry to off-dry white that’s a bit more sophisticated than an Asti, try an Alsatian Gewurztraminer or Riesling. The brand I used to know (Rappaport?) doesn?t seem to be around anymore, but Abarbanel does import both, and if it?s up to their usual standards, they should both be a real treat.
Not to say that kosher wine hasn’t been a known quantity for sometime, but this month’s issue of Food & Wine, my cooking magazine of subscription (and usually of choice), has a “holiday” section feature several Pesach recipes and a brief listing of “Passover” (read: kosher) wines — alongside several recommended Easter wines. You can fine their wine discussion online, as well as the recipes. I would like to point out that of the Bartenura Moscato D’Asti, the author notes, “It’s traditionally served as an aperitif.”
Another note in the “flash pasteurization” file, from the F&W wine reviews: “In fact, flash pasteurization, now used by some kosher winemakers, may also enhance a wine’s body and aromas. Chⴥau de Beaucastel, the great estate in Chⴥauneuf-du-Pape, France, actually uses a process that is related to flash pasteurization, not in order to make its wines kosher but simply to make them more delicious.” I still trend towards non-mevushal wines, as the better wineries still choose, it seems, to leave their wines unboiled, but I have certainly had wonderful wines that are mevushal. I still hold out hope, though, that we’ll get over our fear of non-Jews and “idol worshippers” and leave this distinction in the long-since-passed millenia where it belongs.
